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Pixar
's visit to the Pixar Studio on March 12, 2007.]] & Kermit at Pixar on March 12, 2007.]] in Presto.]] Pixar is a computer-animation studio, founded in 1986, known for its work on such features as Toy Story and The Incredibles, and many Oscar-winning or nominated shorts. In 1990, the studio, through John Lasseter, produced a series of shorts for Sesame Street featuring Luxo Jr.. Kermit and Miss Piggy appeared with Pixar characters on the cover of The Walt Disney Company's 2004 annual report. In 2006, The Walt Disney Company, distributor of Pixar's feature films, acquired Pixar, placing it under the same ownership as the Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House characters. On July 21, 2010, the team involved with producing The Muppets met with creative heads at Pixar to fine-tune the script.ABC News "Disney Picks Pixar's Brains for Muppets Movie" by Borys Kit It was announced at The Walt Disney Company's 2011 investor conference that The Muppets will be packaged with a brand-new Toy Story short to be shown in theaters before the upcoming Muppet film.The Muppets Movie To Get Its Own Toy Story Short Film This will be the second time that a non-Pixar film has showcased a Pixar short before it, and the first live-action film to do so. Muppet Mentions * The Muppets have frequently been cited on different occasions by Pixar artists as an influence, perhaps most apparent in Monsters Inc. The film's co-director, Pete Docter, has often stated that The Muppet Show influenced his work in terms of both humor and character.Apatoons #138. Amateur Press Association. 2005 He expounded on it in greater detail in 2009: "The Muppet Show was a big influence on me and just because of the sense of quirkiness, the fun and especially the sense of very specific characters that they created. It really transcended puppets. I think, these guys became, for me, very deep characters. They have a lot of sides to them, and they’re really amazingly well-defined characters."ScreenCrave "Interview with Up Director Pete Docter" by Mali Elfman * Speaking specifically on character development, Docter used the example of Fozzie Bear's facial expressions to explain a bird character from Up, in an NPR interview: :Terry Gross: You gave Kevin emotion, the kind of emotion you couldn't read in the real bird that you based him on, so what kind of methods did you find for giving your bird emotion. :Pete Docter: Well, the cool thing was, we did the same thing that I described where there is no facial expressions. And, the Muppets do this wonderfully. Where you'll have Fozzie, who has no facial -- other than he can open and close his mouth -- the rest of it's just movement. So, the bird has a great deal of expression and range of attitudes, but it's all through movement.[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104535370 NPR "'Up' And Away With Pixar's Pete Docter"] by Terry Gross, May 26, 2009 *A San Francisco Chronicle reporter noticed Docter's Muppet influence: :Peter Hartlaub: Some of the characters in "Up" have a Muppet vibe. :Pete Docter: "The Muppet Show" was definitely something I watched when I was growing up. They're such great characters. I think in a lot of ways that was an influence on Pixar in general. :Peter Hartlaub: In what way? :Pete Docter: They just had this great specificity in their character. I don't even think they thought of them as puppets. They were caricatures of people, but they had real underlying foibles. Fozzie has some sadness to him. He's a failed comic, and that's what makes him funny, of course. ... There's a sense of funny, quirky, goofball stuff, but it always comes down to character, and the whole show is running off these personalities. That's what we're trying to do. However the plot works out, it's always a character study that gets you through the movie.[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/22/PKHP17KJ39.DTL SFGate "How director helped 'Up' take flight"] by Peter Hartlaub, May 24, 2009 * In Finding Nemo, Dory briefly refers to Nemo as Elmo, and in the audio commentary on the DVD release, Andrew Stanton explains that Austin Pendleton was cast as one of the fish on the basis of the crew's fond memories of Max from The Muppet Movie. * On The Incredibles DVD, a feature devoted to Bud Luckey discusses his work on Sesame Street and shows a clip of "Ladybug Picnic". * In a brief shot from the short Presto, the main character runs across the stage with a group of balconies behind him. In one of those balconies, Statler and Waldorf can be seen (at the 2:37 mark). * The end credits to Up include a dedication "to the real life Carl and Ellie Fredricksens who inspired us to create our own Adventure Books"; the list includes Mike Oznowicz, father of Frank Oz. * The book The Art of Up discusses the influence of Jim Henson and the Muppets on the character designs in the film Up. *Two Pixar staff members dress up as The Martians at their 2009 "Halloween Celebration".Pixar Halloween Celebration 2009 *One of the toys on the garbage truck with Lotso in Toy Story 3 was inspired by Oscar the Grouch. References * The title of Pixar's second animated feature was referenced in the title of the first season Farscape episode "A Bug's Life". * The title card for the Kermit segment of Pepe's Profiles ("A Frog's Life") is similar to the title design of the Pixar feature film A Bug's Life. * In a Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. commercial, Fozzie and Gonzo are seen playing the "Green Army Men Shoot Camp" game in the "Toy Story Midway Mania!" ride at Disney California Adventure * In Tales of a Sixth-Grade Muppet, Danvers says that Monsters Inc. gave fellow sixth-grader Cody Carter nightmares for weeks. And when Statler and Waldorf are making fun of Danvers' astronaut costume, Statler calls out; "Buzz Lightyear called. He wants his outfit back!" * In the second official trailer for The Muppets, during the overhead shot of The Muppet Theater exterior, an ad for Cars 2 can be seen on top of a nearby building. Connections *Randy Newman scored and performed songs for Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 3, and scored Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., and Cars *Sheryl Crow performed "Real Gone" in Cars *Weezer performed "You Might Think" in Cars 2 *Michael Giacchino scored The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Up, and Cars 2 *Edward Asner voiced Carl Fredricksen in Up *Ned Beatty voiced Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear (Lotso) in Toy Story 3 *Bob Bergen provided additional voices in A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo, and Cars *Ben Burtt designed the robot voices and voiced WALL•E and M-O in WALL•E *Michael Caine voiced Finn McMissile in Cars 2 *James Coburn voiced Henry J. Waternoose in Monsters Inc. *Billy Crystal voiced Mike Wazowski in Monsters Inc., the upcoming Monsters University, and a Mike Car caricature in Cars *Joan Cusack voiced Jessie in Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3, and the short Hawaiian Vacation *Ellen DeGeneres voiced Dory in Finding Nemo *Phyllis Diller voiced the Queen in A Bug's Life *Paul Dooley voiced Sarge in Cars ''and ''Cars 2 *Bruce Spence voiced Chum in Finding Nemo *Brad Garrett voiced Dim in A Bug's Life, Bloat in Finding Nemo and Auguste Gusteau in Ratatouille *Whoopi Goldberg voiced Stretch in Toy Story 3 *John Goodman voiced James P. Sullivan (Sulley) in Monsters Inc. '', the upcoming ''Monsters University, and a Sulley truck caricature in Cars *Tom Hanks voiced Woody in Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3, and Hawaiian Vacation *Ian Holm voiced Skinner in Ratatouille *Bonnie Hunt voiced Rosie in A Bug's Life, Mrs. Flint in Monsters, Inc., Sally in Cars, Cars 2, and Dolly in Toy Story 3 and Hawaiian Vacation *Denis Leary voiced Francis in A Bug's Life *Allison Janney voiced Peach in Finding Nemo *Madeline Kahn voiced Gypsy in A Bug's Life *Michael Keaton voiced Chick Hicks in Cars and Ken in Toy Story 3, and Hawaiian Vacation *Richard Kind voiced Molt in A Bug's Life, Van in Cars, Cars 2, and Bookworm in Toy Story 3 *Mark Lesser provided Parisian loop group voices in Ratatouille *Julia Louis-Dreyfus voiced Princess Atta in A Bug's Life *Bud Luckey worked as a story artist and/or character designer on every Pixar feature, developed Woody in Toy Story, voiced Rick Dicker in The Incredibles, directed and provided the vocals for the short Boundin', and voiced Chuckles in Toy Story 3 *Samuel L. Jackson voiced Frozone in The Incredibles *Cheech Marin voiced Ramone in Cars and Cars 2 *Edie McClurg voiced Dr. Flora in A Bug's Life and Minny in Cars, and Cars 2 *Bobby McFerrin sang the music for the 1989 short film Knick Knack *Rove McManus voiced a crab in Finding Nemo *Mona Marshall provided additional voices in Monsters Inc. *Kathy Najimy voiced Mary in WALL•E. *Paul Newman voiced Doc Hudson in Cars *Peter O'Toole voiced Anton Ego in Ratatouille *Frank Oz voiced Fungus in Monsters Inc. *Jonathan Paine animated character models in The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, Boundin’, and One Man Band *Hayden Panettiere voiced Dot in A Bug's Life *Austin Pendleton voiced Gurgle in Finding Nemo *Karen Prell did some of the animation for A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc. (uncredited), and the short films Geri's Game and For the Birds *Mike Quinn animated crowds in A Bug's Life and the marionette scenes in Toy Story 2 *Don Rickles voiced Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3, and Hawaiian Vacation *Kristen Schaal voiced Trixie in Toy Story 3 and Hawaiian Vacation *Vanessa Redgrave voiced Mama Topolino and the Queen of England in Cars 2 *Tony Shalhoub voiced Luigi in Cars and Cars 2 *Eddie Izzard voiced Sir Miles Axlerod in Cars 2 *Billy Connolly will voice King Fergus in Brave *Craig Ferguson will voice Lord Macintosh in Brave *Fred Willard played BnL CEO Shelby Forthright in WALL•E Sources See also *''WALL•E'' External links * Official Pixar website Category:Production Companies Category:Cartoon References Category:Movie Mentions